(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector assembly. In particular, the present invention relates to a connector assembly having enhanced sealing performance between a plug assembly and a header assembly.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Various electronic components are mounted on an automobile, which is provided with a wiring harness for transmitting electric power or control signals to the electronic devices. The afore-mentioned wiring harness includes one or more electrical wires and connector assemblies. Conventionally, the electrical wire comprises an electrically conductive core wire and an electrically insulating outer layer.
As the connector as described above, for example, a connector assembly disclosed in Japanese Published Patent Application No. 2000-294336 can be used. Such a connector assembly includes a connector housing and a sealing member. The connector housing in turn includes a tubular outer case and a plurality of plate-like housings, which are provided with a terminal receiving groove for receiving a terminal fitting attached to an electrical wire.
The sealing member includes a plurality of sheet-like sealing pieces, each made of resilient materials such as rubber. The sheet-like sealing piece is attached to the plate-like housing so as to provide a seal for moisture around the electrical wire which is attached to the terminal fitting received in the terminal receiving groove of the plate-like housing.
The connector as described above can be assembled as follows. First, the terminal fitting attached to the electrical wire is received in the terminal receiving groove of the plate-like housing, and the sheet-like sealing pieces are attached to the plate-like housing. Thereafter, the plate-like housings are engaged with each other and then the same plate-like housings are received in an outer case. Finally, the resulting connector as mentioned above is coupled to a mating connector. During the connector as mentioned above, the sheet-like sealing pieces protect the electrical wire against moisture so as to prevent moisture and the like from entering the terminal receiving groove via the electrical wire.
During the above referenced connector, while the sheet-like sealing pieces, each made of rubber and the like having restitution property, are used in order to ensure that moisture does not pass into both the outer case and the housing, a drawback of the connector is that more force is needed to insert the housing into the outer case. In other word, difficulty of insertion operation as mentioned above is problematic. One proposed method of overcoming the high insertion force was to control restitution property of the sealing piece. Unfortunately, in such a case, it was found to be impossible to provide a connector assembly with enough waterproof performance.
Thus, a need exists for an improved electrical connector assembly, which has enough waterproof performance, as well as, does not need high insertion force when the housing is mated into the outer case.